Share This

DVD Review: RESCUE ME: Sixth Season & Final Season

I have been a fan of this show since the beginning. I love Denis Leary and will watch anything he does from stand up to movies and television. His character of Tommy Gavin was hinted at in the brief run of the show THE JOB in which he plays a cop with similar problems.

Throughout the series we’ve seen Tommy cope with the loss of his cousin and best friend, and others, who died on 9-11. He drinks to excess, takes pills, fools around and generally is the poster child for self-destructive behavior. During it’s 6 season run we are given different reasons for his behavior but it becomes clear that it’s more than just one thing. We’ve watched Tommy loss a lot people close to him, family members and friends who come to visit him when he drinks, and sometimes when he doesn’t. It’s an obvious coping mechanism but it is a great device for us to get inside Tommy’s head. What I love about the show is watching this man and the people around him struggle with their
lives. It seems as if every time they are about to reach the bronze ring it is yanked out from them. And all the while the show is funny, heartwarming, sad, and very in your face.

The last season has Tommy living with his wife and daughters again. He is trying to stay sober and get his daughter to do the same. There are episodes when it seems like he is the only rational person in the room and other times when he’s like a petulant child who doesn’t understand why he can’t do what he wants when he wants. The city wants to shut down the fire house, Tommy struggles with the idea of retiring, he and his wife are trying just one more time to make their marriage work while he tries to make peace with his insane family. This last run has it’s share of tragedies but it also has some wonderful upbeat moments. And no matter what happens, as with previous seasons, I always laugh my ass off every episode.

The first DVD set has Tommy Gavin on the cover with the words Rescue Me on his forehead and on this set the word Rrescued is written there. By the final episode it feels like Tommy is rescued, but it seems as though what he is rescued from is himself. The show ends leaving the viewer with a sense of hope for Tommy and his clan. A truly wonderful and perfect ending for what I think is a great show.